Versioned Specifications

Evolve the Domain Without Rewriting Its Source of Truth

Businesses evolve continuously.

New rules appear.

Processes change.

Products evolve.

New entities emerge.

Policies are replaced.

A domain specification must evolve with them.

The Domain Has a History

Versioning makes changes to the domain explicit.

Each version represents a particular definition of how the business operates.

This creates a traceable evolution of meaning.

You can understand what changed, when it changed and how the domain was defined before and after that change.

Change the Specification First

Instead of treating software changes as isolated modifications to code, domain evolution begins with the specification.

A new business rule becomes a specification change.

A new process becomes a specification change.

A new state becomes a specification change.

A new relationship becomes a specification change.

Software can then be derived or adapted from the new definition.

One Source of Truth Across Generations

Versioning also protects the domain from becoming fragmented across implementations.

Different versions can support different stages of the business while preserving a common lineage.

The specification becomes the historical record of the domain itself.

Evolution Becomes an Engineering Process

This creates a new development loop:

Specify → Validate → Generate → Execute → Evolve

The system does not need to rediscover what the business means every time it changes.

The specification already contains the knowledge.

Version the meaning of the business, and let the software evolve from it.